When Aditi goes into
the room she sees Aunty with three
people. One of them is
Isha!
‘My dear, this is
Ravinder my old friend from Uganda,’
her
father says ‘and this
is his wife Sarita.’ A very attractive older
woman in modern clothes
smiles at Aditi. Ravi says, ‘Sarita
says you know her son
Isha. He is at University with you?’
Aditi nods. She doesn’t
look at Isha.
‘What lovely dancing my
dear,’ Isha’s mother says. ‘You
are like your mother.’
Isha’s father says, ‘We
have photographs of your mother
and father when they
were your age Aditi. We must give
them to you.’ Isha does
not speak and Aditi does not look at
him.
‘Shall we let these
young people talk?’ Aditi’s father says.
‘Do you want to stay
and talk to me?’ Isha asks Aditi.
‘Aunty Yasmin says.Yes,
Aditi can stay and talk to you.’
‘Aditi?’ Isha asks.
Everyone looks at Aditi.
‘Yes, of course,’ Aditi
says quickly. She does not want
everyone to look at
her. ‘Isha and I talk about science for
hours,’ she laughs. She
doesn’t feel like laughing. She wants
33
to forget about Isha
and Dolly. She hopes Isha will leave
quickly.
In a few minutes Isha’s
parents go with Ravi and Aunty
Yasmin to the sitting
room to have some food. Isha steps
towards Aditi but she
moves away from him. He stays very
still and talks. ‘What
is the matter Aditi? Why are you running
away from me all the
time?’
‘Where is Dolly?’ she
asks him.
Suddenly, he
understands. ‘Aditi, you think Dolly is special
to me?’ he asks with
surprise. Aditi waits. She clenches her
fists.
Isha says. ‘Dolly is
special of course and she is a good
friend. Dolly’s parents
live in the house next door to us in
London. She is going to
marry my brother next year.’
Aditi shakes her head.
‘So you and…’
‘No.We are not
engaged.You, are the special one. I want
to marry you, Aditi. Do
you think you can love me?’
Now Aditi is not sure
what to say. She is so happy inside.
Of course she wants to
marry Isha but perhaps she must
wait until he speaks to
her father.
Isha guesses her
thoughts. He goes to her and puts his
arm round her. ‘We are
a modern couple Aditi. You say you
want to choose and I
want you to choose me.’
34
Aditi doesn’t speak for
a minute.
‘I choose you,’ Isha
says. ‘Tell me quickly if you want to
marry me.’ He knows
what Aditi wants to say. She has not
moved away from his
arm.
‘If you say “yes” Isha
tells her, ‘I can talk to your father.
Now, is for us to
choose. Do you want me to speak to your
father? Do you like
me?’
Aditi laughs. ‘Of
course, I like you.’ She moves away from
him. ‘I like to talk
about science with you,’ she says. Isha
looks disappointed.
Aditi giggles and she
moves further away. ‘I’m teasing. I
want to marry you. I
think it’s good we both like to study
35
science. It’s good if
we enjoy the same things.’
‘You are so beautiful
Aditi.’ He says. He moves towards
her. She laughs and
runs to the door. She is only a little bit
modern about love. She
wants him to speak to her father
first. She is so happy
she does not know how lovely she
looks.
‘Speak to father,
Isha,’ Aditi says. ‘If he agrees, I can marry
you. But I cannot marry
a man my father does not like.’ Isha
looks a little worried.
Aditi giggles. She
knows her father wants her to choose
but Aditi wants Isha to
ask her father if she can marry. She
says, ‘Come on Isha.
Aunty has lovely food ready. I’m
hungry.’
They go to the next
room. Aditi helps Aunty give food to
the guests. Later, Isha
goes into the garden with Aditi’s father
and his parents. When
they come back to the house Ravi
says, ‘Well Aditi.What
can I say to this young man? He wants
to marry you very much.
I cannot say “yes” because I always
say you can choose. Do
you want to marry Isha?’
Everyone looks at
Aditi. ‘Yes’, she says. ‘Yes, father I do.’
Everyone is very happy.
Aunty Yasmin kisses Aditi and
Isha’s mother kisses
her too. Isha’s mother whispers to her,
‘My son looks very
happy.’
36
Aditi’s father is
smiling. He says to Isha’s parents, ‘You
must come to our house
tomorrow and we can talk about the
wedding.’
Aditi stands near Isha.
She feels shy. He understands. He
says, ‘I think we must go
now but we can come tomorrow.’
His parents agree but
before he leaves Isha puts a piece of
paper in Aditi’s hand.
When they leave Aditi
reads the paper. It says, ‘Tomorrow
is our day Aditi. It
must be a special day for you and me. I am
coming to fetch you at
11.00 o’clock.’
Aditi asks her father
if she can go. Ravi laughs.
‘Why are you asking me
Aditi? You are a modern couple.
Isha says he can look
after you and he wants to go out with
you before you marry.
If you want to marry him I think you
must go. Perhaps, you
are not sure about Isha? Do you want
to meet one of the
young men Aunty knows?’
‘No, no father. I want
to go out with Isha tomorrow.
‘Good. I trust you
both.You go out and enjoy yourself.’ Ravi
beams. His daughter
looks very happy. He says, ‘Now Aunty
and I can plan the
wedding. I have no more daughters to
worry
about. All of you are with very nice young men.’